I cut aluminum on a table saw today at work. It's a carbide tipped blade, and I needed to cut some 5/16" thick Mic-6 plate. I learned about this in my highschool shop class. Well I did it and a co worker (formerly a boss) saw it and flipped out. He was very upset and told me he is writing me up. I don't get why this is bad. I've cut aluminum on table saws for 3 years with no issue, obviously I feed it slower than wood! I never stand directly in front of it so that if it kicks back, it won't come at me. Is it really that unsafe to cut aluminum on a table saw?

Not only that, but it's Mic6. That stuff is so soft it's only a few steps up from Delrin or maybe Garolite.

I want to tell this guy to leave me the hell alone. I know how to operate machine tools. He's always telling me "You're going way to fast" "Don't reverse that motor so quickly".
At the end of the day, this blade is carbide tipped. THe cutting action is no different than running a carbide 4 flute end mill through aluminum, just by different means.

Phantomcow, I suspect it's because of your age. We all know how children are being wrapped in so much cotton wool and aren't allowed to do anything remotely dangerous. It's probably difficult for your boss to wrap his head around the reality that you actually know how to use potentially lethal tools safely.

__________________"Real wars of words are harder to win. They require thought, insight, precision, articulation, knowledge, and experience. They require the humility to admit when you are wrong. They recognize that the dialectic is not about making us look at you, but about us all looking together for the truth."

That could be it, too. I guess I've noticed people coddling their teenagers against way too much (usually the wrong thing). Possibly a combination. You and Phantomcow are unusual in your abilities for your respective ages, IMO.

__________________"Real wars of words are harder to win. They require thought, insight, precision, articulation, knowledge, and experience. They require the humility to admit when you are wrong. They recognize that the dialectic is not about making us look at you, but about us all looking together for the truth."

Your boss is a dip, like others have said it's fine with a slow feed rate.

I got the same thing in the metal shop for the first few weeks, constantly having people coach me and try to get me to do things my way. I've been working with steel for a while, I know what it/I can and can't do.

__________________
"the bus came by and I got on, that's when it all began...there was Cowboy Neal at the wheel of a bus to never-ever land."

__________________"Real wars of words are harder to win. They require thought, insight, precision, articulation, knowledge, and experience. They require the humility to admit when you are wrong. They recognize that the dialectic is not about making us look at you, but about us all looking together for the truth."

In my experience, there are some young men and a few young women who are very capable. I've worked with people less than 20 who were in charge of construction crews. When I was in high school technical training, 17 and 18 year olds including myself would spend 4 days a week during tech school hours on job sites building houses and getting paid for it.

While it's very true that we are rare among younger people for having a drive to do well in blue collar fields, it's not too uncommon within that business.

Phantomcow, I suspect it's because of your age. We all know how children are being wrapped in so much cotton wool and aren't allowed to do anything remotely dangerous. It's probably difficult for your boss to wrap his head around the reality that you actually know how to use potentially lethal tools safely.

On the one day in my woodshop class with the most injuries, I lost a thumbnail to a belt sander, a guy cut half way through his thumb with a band saw, another guy cut half way through his entire hand with a table saw, and using the very same table saw another guy had a seizure resulting in a kick back if I remember right.

Can't you just be compliant and touchy feely, make him feel better about himself? Why, all the great minds of our world have been just such people, it never took guts and deterrmination to accomplish anything and being smart is such a old worn out concept.

I'll add another +1. At our shop, I purchase tools for upcoming jobs. It's amazing how much tooling is abused by nimrods running the machines. What do they care? They're not paying for it. "Just buy more!"

I don't necessarily agree that a "wood blade" will be trashed by cuttng aluminum. It's no different than a milling machine.
If your wood blade is high speed steel, I'll give you that. But many of the blades today (most?) are carbide tipped. Just because the shape may not be the one optimized for non ferrous metals doesn't mean it will dull faster, it means it won't perform as well. I can use an end mill on a milling machine with no helix and 8 flutes on aluminum. If it was made out of carbide, it wouldn't trash the end mill at all. Would it cut well? No.

But if that's all you've got, make do.
My boss at work wants me to use a sawzall to cut all metal stock. Like that's safer